Techclutch

If you are constantly checking Facebook, you are not logged in enough, according to the founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. That's right, Facebook wants more of your attention, more status updates, more photos, and more information about your social life with much debated privacy. 

Today, Facebook unveiled the new platform to spotlight the social networking site on smartphones. One of the phones that will feature the pre-installed "Facebook Home" is HTC First mobile phone which will be released on April 12th (you can pre-order here). But Facebook Home is neither an operating system nor a phone. Rather it is a customized version of Google Android's operating system 4.1, also known as Jelly Bean (4.2 is the latest Jelly Bean version). It is like the existing android themes with custom tweaks more than anything else. It focuses more on Facebook services than the competitor apps already installed on your phones. But you will still have all the Google services, like Google search, Gmail, marketplace, etc. With the new interface, Facebook will constantly remind you of what your friends are doing right from your lock screen. It will display the most recent status and photo updates. You will also be able to reply to your friends with less taps. After you slide open the lock screen, you will be presented with "coverfeeds" which are the aforementioned updates without going into any application. Facebook also claims to improve their messaging service on this platform so you can always be connected to your friends.  So what is the intention of releasing a Facebook centered platform? It's simple. Facebook needs a better medium to channel their ads to their users so they can attract more advertisers. When a user pulls the phone out of their pocket, sure they will see their friend's status updates and recent photos, but they will also see the pages your friends liked. It will feature sponsored ads into the status updates on your home screen which are more or less relevant to your needs.  Price of HTC First: $99 w/ 2 yr ATT contract (will be released on April 12th) If you have one of the following phones, you will be able to download the and install the full app from Google play on April 12:

HTC One X 

One X Plus

Samsung Galaxy S III

Samsung Note 2

Google is notorious for April Fools day pranks and this year there was a head start. On Sunday, they posted several videos and updated some icons on their pages to draw out some laughter and amusement. Here are some pranks to start your April Fools day, courtesy of Google. Enjoy! Google Nose "Beta" Enhance your search with your nose and I don't mean using your nose instead of your fingers. Google is suggesting that you bring your nose closer to your screen, be it a mobile device or a pc, and just smell away. When you click on Smell, you'll see your screen emitting some "infrared" sensor.

Google Maps

Like last year's 8 bit google maps, this year they are putting a little twist to their joke. It looks like a medieval treasure hunting map and if you go to the street view, it has a neat filter that resembles the old school theme. End of Youtube That's right, youtube will shutdown forever and the winner will be announced in 10 years. Their video will be the only one standing on their page. This will bring an end to their contest of best video posted, which was the original intention of creating youtube. Some of the judges who will review and select the winner are celebraties and avid commenters.

Gmail Blue Everything is the same in Gmail except it's BLUE. It's blue all day, everyday. (like Microsoft Outlook theme lol)

The new Chromebook Pixel is expected to ship on April 8th. The price? $1299.00 for the wifi version. In case you have ordered one or maybe thinking about purchasing it, you maybe asking if it is really worth what you are paying for. Sure it has a fancy retina display and a multi-gesture touchscreen on a laptop that can't be switched to a tablet. And yes, it is installed with the latest ChromeOs that you can use to perform most of your everyday activity online. I mean it does not take much computing power to open up web apps. And would you be really utilizing the retina display when most of the programs on the Chrome web store doesn't really require a high definition display? You can just as easily watch high definition clips with the $250 Samsung notebook to look up Youtube videos or watch a movie on Netflix or Hulu. So you may be wondering what's the reason behind building and selling such a high tech machine when all you are really doing is opening up web applications. Couldn't you just buy one that's currently available for a much cheaper price? And why would you need a high price Cromebook when you can just download Chrome web browser on almost any operating system? The answer is because it is really an prototype and Google is putting forward a high tech machine because they can afford to invest and attract developers to create and test application on the actual hardware. Afterwards, they can attract customers with these "better" apps and hope their investment will pay off. Their strategy is to create better notebooks to compete with companies like Apple that sells laptops for a similar price. But if you are looking for the latest technology from Google and are willing to invest on a high tech machine and also want to wait for the apps that would fully utilize its potential, you can order it from their website.

Another "incentive" to purchasing the Chromebook pixel is that with a little more price, $1449.00, you can purchase the 4G LTE version with plenty of online storage (1 TB of online storage for 3 years on Google Drive. The physical laptop contains 64 GB of SSD). But don't expect to stream any movies on the cellular data because you only get 100 mb of data per month "free" for two years (you are paying $150 more than the regular price). After that, you can purchase monthly subscription from Verizon. Besides the high pixel retina screen (239 pixel per inch), here are some other specs that may be somewhat attractive:

CPU Intel® Core™ i5 Processor (Dual Core 1.8GHz)Intel® HD Graphics 4000 (Integrated) MEMORY 4 GB DDR3 RAM INTERNAL STORAGE 32/64 GB Solid State Drive ($1299/$1499 w/LTE, respectively) WEIGHT 3.35 lbs / 1.52 kg INDUSTRIAL DESIGN Backlit Chiclet style keypad with Glass touchpad Machined from anodized aluminum Active cooling with no visible vents ENERGY STAR® certified

After the long wait, the new Blackberry smartphone Z10 was launched today in USA. With just about a hundred thousand apps in the market, this smartphone is a great upgrade for existing customers. With its many beneficial features, it can even be a great experience for the users who want to switch from iphone and/or android devices. Some of the features include: 

"True multi-tasking"

Enhanced Gestures

Voice control (similar to Siri)

Well responsive display

This phone will be competing with other major smartphones in the market which includes just the recent release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 (android) and the iphone 5 (iOS).

Shares of Blackberry (Research In Motion) however have plummeted on the day of the release. What does this tell us about  the confidence of people who invested in this company and ultimately their views on the phone? The market will ultimately decide. 

Price: $200 with a 2 yr ATT contract.